REGINALD GAMMON (b.1921)
was at the center of the struggle for the equal representation of African American art and artists beginning in the early 1960's. He was a founding member of Spiral, a black artists' group formed in 1962. He received critical acclaim for his painting Freedom Now, shown in the group's exhibition in 1965. The painting typified his strong graphic style and effective use of 'photographic' framing and cropping while maintaining a formal quality in his compositions. When Spiral disbanded, he joined Benny Andrews and others in the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, again addressing the exclusion and ill treatment of African American artists by mainstream institutions. Over his long career he worked in advertising and teaching, becoming a professor of Humanities at Western Michigan University in 1983, a position he held until recently retiring. |
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